One Is the Loneliest Number
by numbuh310alltheway
Summary: Rachel is depressed and can't keep thinking that Nigel's gone all because of her. *Song fic/one shot*


**Author's Note: "Hello! If any of you are interested in a time share, please press button number six. Now that you have heard these instructions, please press button number four to hear the rest of the dire-"**

**Me: WHOA! What the heck was that all about? Sorry about that folks. I'll get that fixed for yah. In the mean time, please scroll on down to read. No, really. Scroll down. **

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People might say that I'm too high strung. I know how to keep my cool, but I can lose it sometimes. Everyone does, but I tend to stray from my duties once in a while. My thoughts always invaded my mind, tempting me to block out everything and just think. Thinking sometimes led to actions. And one action I did I regret all the way.

Nothing had been so heart breaking in my entire life until this event had occurred.

My thoughts raced off in different realms of my mind, clouding my head.

I walked down the sidewalk, a book bag over my shoulder, a greenish blue tee shirt on and a pair of jeans. I had my hair short and blonde. It came down just a little below my shoulders. My brown eyes were facing downward the entire walk home. As long as my heart was beating, my mind wouldn't set on anything else but the mistake I had progressed.

Tears scratched at my eyes as I halted in my tracks and stared at a familiar house in front of me.

The door was newly painted. The shingles fixed precisely right. The windows cleaned and shining. Everything about this house was so gorgeous, but what broke my heart even more was when I remembered who use to stay in the home.

A single droplet rolled down my red tinted cheeks.

More poured from my eyes as I sniffled and walked on to my own house. Never did my crying pools of brown glance up. Never did I say a word. Never did I smile. I just walked steadily down the concrete sidewalk, turning sharply into a driveway and up to the front door. The wood wasn't as glamorous as the house's I had just returned from. Neither was it close to perfect as the other. But it was my own home. My place to be myself more than anywhere else. It had my family, my room, my things, and a warmness to it that calmed my nerves.

I walked in and looked around and saw that no one was near.

I kicked off my shoes and left them by the door, dropping my back pack next to them. It was the weekend, so no homework and no extra stress to be added to my already stressful worries and thoughts. My eyes darted around the corner, and in the kitchen was a note. It hung loosely on the refrigerator. My hand went to yank it off, but instead I gripped the handle on the large cooler and pulled out a carton of orange juice. I twisted the cap off and just drank straight from the cardboard container. My sleeve became a little damp as I wiped my mouth on it.

The note laid right in my face once I returned the carton.

This time when I reached for it I actually did yank it.

**"_Rach,  
_****_I ran out to the store with Harvey. Your father will be home soon. Be good.  
-_****_Mom."_**

I nodded to myself and ran up the steps to my bedroom. Peace overwhelmed me as I shut the white wooden door and plopped onto my soft bed. I grabbed a remote and clicked a button. But instead of a soothing, fast beat song, I get one that breaks my heart all over again.

_One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do  
__Two can be as bad as one  
__It's the loneliest number since the number one, oh_

Hot tears gathered at the corner of my eyes. I know I could have easily switched the station, but my fingers went numb and I just couldn't change that particular melody. It sang my heart, my fast beating, aching, torn, broken old heart. Suddenly my arms went limp. The remote fell to the carpeted floor and I huddled into a small ball. My face went into my knees as my arms wrapped around them. Tears; sad, aching, torturous tears escaped my watery orbs.

My pants became soaked as I began to think about my mistakes, why they happened and for what reason.

The song played on, earning more tears with each passing lyric.

I never knew what I did to deserve so many slaps in the face. I was just a hard working girl who loved to have fun once in a while. But hard work didn't earn anything. My experiences taught me that. People always say that hard work gets the job done. Or hard work pays the bills. Or hard work leads to success. Well, hard work never got me any of that.

Did I ever get the job done? Sure. Yeah, I did. But what job were we talking about? The one I had at that office supplies store? The one for the Kids Next Door? Or the one that mattered most to me? Nope. I never got that last one done. So I failed. All the others didn't matter to me now. Looking back I was a tough cookie. I struggled to earn many things, but when you let your job blind you, you regret it later on.

Always was I confronted about something. Either it was a villain stealing candy from a baby, or my dad forgot to pay the electric bill so I had to help out and get a job, because he was getting cut on his pay check. Debt wasn't suppose to be something I was in at this age. I should be at the mall, shopping, hanging out with my friends. But no. The debt I had come to was more tough than financial debt. You had to pay money for financial stuff. You could earn that. The one I was in I could never get out of. The tables had finally turned on me, Rachel T. McKenzie.

They say work leads to success.

What success did I work up to? Nothing. I was not successful. I had ruined my chance of ever being a big shot. The only success I ever dreamed of having was gone. Never to return again. I hated thinking that, but I always thought. I was a thinker. An unsuccessful thinker.

Work led to disappointment.

I had the experience to prove it.

_No, is the saddest experience you'll ever know  
__Yes, it's the saddest experience you'll ever know  
__'Cause one is the loneliest number that you'll ever do  
__One is the loneliest number, whoa-oh, worse than two_

"_Oh Lord help me now. I cannot go on like this. Prayers are something I give myself, so please answer them. Send me a sign that tells me how to solve my problems. Send me something that tells me I need hope to fix this and give me the wisdom to overcome my fears and solve this catastrophe. Please Lord. Save me. I need your guidance. I need your wisdom. I need your love and compassion to pull me to my feet so I can fight this problem until I find a solution."_

No matter how much I prayed, no matter how long I did, no matter if he heard my pleas or not, I knew he was with me.

God was a powerful Holy Spirit. He did miracles every day. Small ones happening without us knowing it. I just needed a little push from him to open my tear shut eyes. I needed to solve this problem but I couldn't if I didn't believe I could. It was hard to go through such hardship. It was difficult to just stare at the wall and think about the conflict. A problem would never go away unless someone did something about it. And now I knew I had to be the person to solve it.

It pained my heart every time I brought up the dilemma in my brain.

No one could see it, but they didn't need to.

My expression couldn't fool everybody. It was always stern, formal, pain stricken, and pale. It's like the life had been sucked out of me. And in a way, it had. _He_ was everything I wanted, needed even. _He_ helped me. I never knew I could feel so much toward just one single person. But I did. Without me really realizing it I had fallen for _him_ years before I knew. I didn't know how to explain it, but a soft spot had made its way in my blood pumping heart just for _him. _

_He_ knew how to make everything okay. _He_ knew how to make everything right.

Just once I wanted to feel special.

And every time I saw _him, he _made me melt and feel like I was the queen of the world. Nothing could compare to _him. _No one. _He_ was my knight in shining armor. _He_ was my macho man waiting for me when I needed _him. He _was my love that I would never let go.

Yet… _he_ was gone.

_It's just no good anymore since you went away  
__Now I spend my time just making rhymes of yesterday_

I couldn't believe _he _was never coming back. Never returning because of what I had done.

Mistakes happen all the time. Yes, that's true, but have you ever made such a terrible mistake that might have ruined your life with no possible way of it ever returning to normal? I have. It's not how I wanted it to go. I thought I was doing everyone good, but once the error occurred, I knew I had done wrong. I never thought of the consequences. I never sat down and thought about what might happen if I had done it. But now it was too late.

_He_ was gone and never returning.

My head gazed up, peering into the mirror across the room.

Blood shot eyes stared back at me. Tear stains ran down my scarlet cheeks. A hot, salty liquid dotted the corners of my eyes. Looking back into my reflection, I suddenly felt sick and angry all at the same time. My breaths started to rapidly increase and steam rose within my system. Fire welled up in my puffy red eyes. Flames drained off of me as I looked up more and glared at the girl in the mirror.

A sharp piercing cry erupted from my mouth.

I stood up quickly, running over to my reflection, beating on it over and over again.

Tears dripped off the end of my nose and down my cheeks.

Sobs escaped my mouth as I hammered away at the now fogged up mirror.

In the back ground I made out the drumming song that had been playing.

_One is the loneliest number  
__One is the loneliest number  
__One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do_

My legs felt stiff as I started to bend my knees. My limbs began to ache and I shouted at myself in the mirror. How could I come to this? How could I make this happen?

Nothing seemed right anymore.

My whole world had been flipped around ever since _he_ bid _his_ farewell and vamoosed.

I buckled over and fell to the floor, my hands running down the mirror.

Nothing mattered any more to me. When _he_ left, _he_ took everything that made me with _him_. _He _took my dignity. _He_ took my control. _He_ took everything, _but_ my love. Love could never escape you, even if you thought it could. Love stayed there with you, because as long as you had a heart, you had love.

That love burned deep into my soul.

If _he_ never realized I loved _him_ this much, I wouldn't be surprised.

No one knew how much I adored _him. _

I barely knew myself, but I know I did, and when I heard the door shut_, him _walking away, my heart just snapped. Pieces of it scattered. That's when thoughts came about. I thought about the good times and the bad times. But never as I was thinking did I come across a time where I said that I loved _him. _I've probably expressed it over repeatedly, but never actually said it.

Now it was too late to tell _him. _

_He_ was gone, no trace of where _he_ might be.

_One is the loneliest  
__One is the loneliest  
__One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do  
__It's just no good anymore since you went away_

Then I heard the lyrics to the low playing tune in the back ground.

_Number… one-_

That's when I snapped.

I stood up, took my fist and aimed right toward the wall. My knuckles burned after the hard contact. A wide hole formed in the wall and I winced a bit as it had met my fist. But I didn't care. My anger, fury, and loneliness etched at me. I couldn't take any more of this.

Nothing was perfect in the world, but I'm sure my life was so far off on the perfect meter that I would have won a medal saying, 'Biggest Loser in the World'.

_-is the loneliest number  
__One is the loneliest number  
__One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do_

I hissed to myself as a soft, shaky knock came to my door.

I brushed away my tears and walked over to it. I pulled my hair back and got close to the door. "Not now!" I shouted to whoever was shielded behind the wood. No answer came but retreating foot steps. I smirked and sat down sloppily on my bed.

Hurt formed within my chest.

Something didn't feel right.

Like someone was here that I thought would never show. Like the balance had been tipped over and everyone was getting their fair share. I shook my head quickly and scratched at my puffy eyes. Dry tears were plastered on my face, as well as newly formed ones in the corners.

I crossed my legs and listened quietly to the song.

_Number  
__One is the loneliest number  
__One is the loneliest number  
__One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do_

"Knock! Knock!"

I growled and snapped my head to my door. "NOT NOW!" I snarled, but instead of foot steps walking away, I heard jiggling on the knob. The lock was being turned from the other side. I just sat there and squirmed a bit. Who could that possibly be? But to my utter shock, it was never who I'd thought it would be.

_Nigel…_

"Rachel? Are, are you…okay?" He whispered, walking slowly over to my side. I was at lost for words. Nothing sounded out of my mouth. My eyes just stared, unblinking, at him. His dark eyes were shielded by his black sunglasses. His arms were covered by a grey jacket and red turtle neck. His legs were clad in dark denim jeans. His head was covered by nothing. No hair, just the glowing baldness that indicated that, that was who he was.

Finally without thinking, I croaked out a reply.

"N-N-Nigel? Is, is th-that really y-you?" A soft grin formed on his pale face. Just by him showing a kind gesture warmed my insides. He nodded, sitting in front of me on my bed. I smiled shyly and blushed when I just collapsed. I flew into his arms and cried my eyes out. "Oh, Nigel! I've m-m-missed y-you s-s-so much! I never thought y-you'd ever c-come back!"

He wrapped his arms around me and gently stroked my blonde locks.

Everything I had been feeling guilty about poured out into my wet sobs.

"I th-thought you left me forever. I w-was s-so upset when I thought y-you'd never c-come back! I'm so s-s-sorry. I never meant t-to drive you away. I'm just-"

But I was interrupted when he shushed me soothingly and put his finger to my mouth. I immediately stopped talking and looked up into his shimmering orbs of topaz. He smiled down at me, making me feel warmer by each passing millisecond.

"Rachel. I have something to confess. I know you think it's your fault I left, but it's not. I went away on my own to get away from all the pressure of everything. I know we had a fight before I decided to leave, but I'm telling you it wasn't your fault. It was mine. I should have made up with you and told you that I needed time to think. Well, I'm back to tell you that while I was away I _did_ think. I thought long and hard and I knew what I did was wrong. I knew you would be taking this hard and I came back to apologize. I came back to tell you that I… love you."

Frozen to the spot.

My eyes grew large. Big, glassy, and unblinking. My heart stopped pumping blood at that second. My thoughts all wisped away out to wherever worries and problems vanished to. Never in my entire short lived life have I ever been so thrilled, yet not say a word.

Seconds passed by, but it felt like ages.

But before I could say anything the most spectacular thing happened.

_Number  
__One...! (one is the loneliest number that you'll ever do)  
__Number  
__One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do  
__Number  
__One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do_

A sweet sensation electrocuted though my veins. Warm fuzzies swarmed through my stomach at the soft touch of Nigel's lips. He kissed me, hugging me close to him. I felt like all my worries just grabbed a ticket to anywhere and zoomed out as fast as they could go.

Nothing felt more right then anything than this right here

"I-uh…I…I…" I was at lost for words, searching through my vocabulary to pick out something to say. But nothing came. It was like all my working systems shut down and the factory would never reopen.

Nigel just smiled at me and kissed the top of my head.

A light grin rose onto my face.

"I…love you, Nigel." I whispered to him. His eyes brightened and he lifted me up in the air, twirling me around and around. I giggled and he let me down, kissing me all over. I kissed him back and then everything went silent when our eyes connected. I grabbed his face close to mine and glared hard. "Don't. Ever. Leave. Me. Again." I threatened. He just nodded with a loving grin. I smiled and planted a huge kiss on his warmed lips.

"_One would never be the loneliest number now." _I thought to myself. _"Never."_

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**Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this. It was fun to write and I especially love this song. If you want to know what the song is called and who sings it, it's right down there.**

_**One Is The Loneliest Number by Three Dog Night.**_

**Now this song/one shot was inspired by a piece of art on Daviantart dot com. It was titled the same name as the song and had Rachel and Nigel in it. I loved that picture and wanted to do a song fic with those two and this song. **

**I hope you liked it and remember to…. Wait for it….. REVIEW! ! ! ! !**


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